Street Photography by Guido Steenkamp » Gear & Gadgets

Nikon F5, F100 and F6

Guido — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:34:18 +0000

Just a size comparison of the Nikon F5, the Nikon F100 and Nikon F6.

The F6 succeeded the F5 as the top Nikon film camera, which makes the F6 the world’s top 35mm SLR (IMHO). I always liked the F100 better than the F5 – the F6 feels like an upgraded F100.

M9 Firmware 1.138 released

Guido — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 08:41:16 +0000

The improvements in the Firmware Version 1.138 are described on the Leica Blog

Poor man’s Summilux

Guido — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:37:27 +0000

Since i bought my first Leica M, i have always been torn between using a focal length of 35mm or 50mm for my street photography. I own both, the Leica 50mm Summicron and 35mm Summicron ASPH but have been thinking about upgrading to Summilux lenses (f 1.4) lately. Instead of spending a huge amount of money on two Summilux lenses, i decided to give the Voigtländer Nokton 40mm f 1.4 a try.

This lens only costs a fraction of what a Leica lens would cost. At least on the paper, the Nokton 40mm looks like the perfect lens for me. It was in the mail only this morning so i haven’t had a chance to try it on the streets, but as you can see, it looks nice on the M9. I will post a couple of pictures taken with this lens as soon as i have some time. What i found out so far, is that focussing is a bit stiff (compared to a Leica lens) and that the build quality seems to be ok but not even close to Leica standards.

Leica M9 and the missing anti-alias filter

Guido — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:32:22 +0000

I took the picture below this morning using my Leica M9 and a 24mm/f3.8 Elmar lens. Almost every digital camera on the market uses an anti-aliasing filter while the M9 doesn’t. The lack of an AA filter normally translates into appreciably higher resolving power but may in some cases also lead to aliasing.

I took 6323 images with the M9 before this happens for the first time. I have no clue why the aliasing can be seen in frame 6324, maybe it’s the lens in combination with the structure of the wall in the background. Whatever the reason is, as long as it just happens every 6000 images i don’t worry too much.

MacBook Pro

Guido — Fri, 21 May 2010 21:23:53 +0000

I got my new MacBook Pro 2,66 Intel Core i7 today. Fortunately i work for a company that knows how to make their employees happy. Much to my surprise the one feature that really stands out is the solid-state drive. I don’t really care about tech specs, but using a computer that is not just silent but makes absolutely zero noise is a whole new experience.

Leica Elmar 24mm/f 3.8

Guido — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:44:16 +0000

My M2 with the Leica Elmar 24mm/f 3.8

Leica M9 with black Leica logo

Guido — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 07:22:50 +0000

I got a black Leica logo from a friendly Leica employee last week and put it on my M9. The camera front now is completly black and sure looks better than with all the tape i used before.

Bag World – David Alan Harvey

Guido — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 08:59:46 +0000

I already own +10 camera bags so this could be me in 30 years.

Bag World from Stephen Alvarez on Vimeo.

guess who is back from CLA

Guido — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 19:29:46 +0000

Leica M9 firmware update on Monday

Guido — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:56:57 +0000

check Leica Rumors for details on the Leica M9 firmware update.